This morning, I awoke to learn that a favorite company of mine has decided to stop taking requests from its customers via email. The only mediums that will be accepted are filling out a form on their web site or a phone call. No emails.

There are potentially lots of reasons for making this kind of change.

Filling out a form provides more structure for the request.

It makes it easier to handle (i.e., labor cost for handling the requests can be reduced).

Requests can be tracked (improving customer service) although it should be noted that there are email applications that will track disposition of incoming requests.

And, by leaving open the option to call for customer service, well, the firm is still trying to project a very positive, supportive, responsive image, right?

So, they shut off email service for their customers. No email service requests for anyone!

Is this a good move, or a bad one? Or, more precisely, when would this move be a good idea and when would it be a bad one?

What do you think?

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Tom Austin
VP & Gartner Fellow20 years at Gartner 41 years IT industry

Tom Austin, VP, has been a Gartner Fellow since 1997. He drives Gartner's research content incubator (the Maverick Program) and is leading a new research community creating research on the emerging era of smart machines. Read Full Bio

Thoughts on Is this approach suitably people-centered or is it customer-insensitive?

Anytime you do anything like this, you need to start with the customer. Find out how they want to interact with you, or … at least pull them into your thinking, ge their input.

Marketing is never about you and it never will be.

Hence, you can’t spring something on customers because it’s better for you. It has to be about them. You have to show customers that the change ultimately has THEM in mind and that it will produce higher quality service for THEM.

As in everything marketing (and business) it’s not what you say it’s how you say it. I’m not disagreeing with this approach but I fear this company is making it about them, not the customer .. and that often backfires. Some would call it spin .. but whatever you call it … it can’t be all about you.

I agree with previous comments. It really depends on type of customers you’re dealing with, as well as quality of a web form.
As a customer I don’t mind filling out forms, if only they are understandable and easy to use. For me the web form has to follow two simple rules:
1. Don’t ask me info which is not relevant;
2. Give me the opportunity to enter all info that I have for you.
If you can’t achieve the 1st rule, I get suspicious of what you really want to find out about me.
If you can’t achieve the 2nd rule, your web form has missed the purpose completely.

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